Son of an opera singer and an Italian piano teacher (Liette), he was raised by his grandparents in Toulouse, where he heard Glenn Miller, Édith Piaf and Louis Armstrong (among others) on the radio.
In 1947 he failed his baccalaureat and commenced a career in journalism, writing for various journals including Le Journal des Curistes at Vichy and L'Echo d'Alger. At the same time he wrote songs for Marcel Amont (Le barbier de Belleville, Le balayeur du roi) and Philippe Clay (Joseph, La sentinelle). He met Georges Brassens, who became his friend and mentor.
In 1949 he performed his military service in the foreign legion at Rabat, Morocco.
He sent his lyrics to Marguerite Monnot, Édith Piaf's songwriter, who put them to music. (Méphisto, Le Sentier de la guerre). He started to sing for a livelihood in 1959 in a Parisian cabaret in Montmartre, Le lapin agile.
In 1962, he decided to sing his works himself: Une petite fille and Cécile ma fille (dedicated to his daughter, born in 1962 to his wife Sylvie, whom he met at Le lapin agile). These songs made him immediately known to the larger public, which he had already started to penetrate by participating in the concerts of Dalida.
A car accident immobilised him for several months in 1963. The following year he travelled to Brazil, and sang in prestigious halls in Paris: the Olympia, the Palais, the Théâtre de la Ville.
Following the death of his friend Jacques Audiberti in 1965 he wrote, in homage, the song Chanson pour le maçon.
The events of May 1968 inspired him to the torrential Paris Mai, a plea for life, which would be banned from the airwaves. The same year he recorded his first live album at the Olympia: Une soirée avec Claude Nougaro.
His career continued normally punctuated with success: Le jazz et la java, Tu verras, Île de Ré, Armstrong, Toulouse, Petit taureau. But in 1984, his recording company did not renew his contract. Nougaro left for New York, seeking inspiration, and while there wrote and recorded a self-financed disc, Nougayork, whose resounding success was a surprise.
In 1988 Victoires de la musique rewarded him with best album and best artist, and between 1993 and 1997 he released three new albums.
His health deteriorated after 1995, when he underwent a heart operation. In 2003, his condition left him unable to appear at the festival du Verbe at Toulouse. From 1998 to 2004 he devoted himself more to concerts and festivals, apart from an album in aid of children suffering from AIDS. Having undergone further surgery in early 2004, he died of cancer in March, 74 years old.
His music drew inspiration, among other sources, from American jazz, from which he borrowed heavily (Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins), but also from Brazilian music (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Baden Powell de Aquino, Chico Buarque).
Comme Une Piaf
Claude Nougaro Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
J'voudrais pouvoir chanter le bottin
Et vous r'muer les intestins
Comme une Piaf au masculin
Avec dans ma voix un seul mot
Comme un bec fleuri de rameaux
J'voudrais vous guérir de vos maux
Vous vous sentiez bons et beaux
Et bien
Ce s'rait là le vrai but atteint
Et mon seul butin
Sur ce plateau presque olympien
Avec mes pieds de sarrasin
J'voudrais fouler comme un raisin
Vos cœurs
Qu'en ruisselle un joli vin
Divin
A faire chanter vos lendemains
Jusqu'au matin au moins
Alors j'pourrais tirer l'rideau
Sans honte vous tourner le dos
J'vous aurais tous eus dans la peau
Sans chagrin
J'irais prendre le repos
Des saints
J'irais rejoindre ton satin
N'est-ce pas Piaf enfin
(13158) Sonneries pour Mobiles Sonneries pour Claude Nougaro ? http://www.paroles.net - Texte soumis aux Droits d'Auteur - Réservé à un usage privé ou éducatif.
Hit-Parade
The lyrics of Claude Nougaro's song Comme Une Piaf talk about the desire to sing like famous French singer Edith Piaf but with a masculine touch. The singer wishes to have the power to move people with his voice, to touch their hearts and heal their pain. He compares himself to a bird (piaf) and wants to use his voice as a means to intoxicate his audience like a good wine.
In the first verse, the singer wishes to sing so powerfully that it would make people's intestines tremble, just like how Piaf's voice affected her listeners. He compares his voice to a beak with flowers, indicating that his words will be beautiful like a bouquet. The singer's intention is to heal people's pain with his voice using just one word that would touch their hearts and make them feel good about themselves.
In the second verse, the lyrics talk about the singer's ambition to be able to tread upon people's hearts like grapes and make them produce divine wine that would intoxicate their minds and make them happy. The last line indicates that if he succeeds in his ambition, he could die peacefully and meet his maker without any regrets.
Overall, the song emphasizes the power and emotional impact of Piaf's music and how the singer wishes to emulate her.
Line by Line Meaning
Comme une Piaf au masculin
Like a masculine Piaf
J'voudrais pouvoir chanter le bottin
I wish I could sing the phone book
Et vous r'muer les intestins
And stir your intestines
Avec dans ma voix un seul mot
With just one word in my voice
Comme un bec fleuri de rameaux
Like a beak blooming with branches
J'voudrais vous guérir de vos maux
I wish I could heal you from your troubles
Qu'enfin Vous vous sentiez bons et beaux
So that finally you feel good and beautiful
Et bien Ce s'rait là le vrai but atteint
And well, that would be the true goal achieved
Et mon seul butin
And my only reward
Sur ce plateau presque olympien
On this almost Olympian plateau
Avec mes pieds de sarrasin
With my feet like buckwheat
J'voudrais fouler comme un raisin
I wish to trample like a grape
Vos cœurs Qu'en ruisselle un joli vin
Over your hearts, so a lovely wine flows
Divin A faire chanter vos lendemains
Divine, to make your tomorrows sing
Jusqu'au matin au moins
Until at least the morning
Alors j'pourrais tirer l'rideau
Then I could draw the curtain
Sans honte vous tourner le dos
Without shame, turning my back on you
J'vous aurais tous eus dans la peau
I would have all of you under my skin
Sans chagrin
Without sorrow
J'irais prendre le repos
I would go take rest
Des saints
Of saints
J'irais rejoindre ton satin
I would join your satin
N'est-ce pas Piaf enfin
Isn't that right, Piaf?
Contributed by Liliana H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
tigreadroit
Admirable adaptation du "Beauty and the beast" de Wayne Shorter et Milton Nascimento .